Cast First, Ask Questions Later
by daydreamer-in-chief
Summary: Year 5 AU. What if Harry decided he was not safe at Privet Drive? If Dementors could attack him there, surely he was not safe. And if he was being attacked, there was no reason to be a sitting duck. He must run away from his relatives house again. While the Ministry is making threats, and the Order is making absurd suggestions, Harry comes to a surprising conclusion about himself.
1. Chapter 1: Run and hide or stay and lose

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

A/N: I wrote this story some time ago when I was angry with almost all the characters in the Harry Potter series, for reasons that will be mentioned in the story. So it is quite a cynical story. On the bright side it is mostly complete. The next chapter will be posted tomorrow.

Chapter 1: Run and hide or stay and lose

The Dementors had been defeated. Just as Harry was about to celebrate, he saw someone running towards him. Harry had already cast a stunning spell at the newcomer before he recognized it was Mrs. Figg.

He didn't want to oblivate her. He had never done the spell before, and he didn't want her to end up like Lockhart. Well, he hoped he hadn't violated the Statue of Secrecy too much.

Now that he had won the fight, all the adrenaline had left him, and he suddenly felt weary. He really didn't want to deal with two unconscious people.

He levitated Mrs. Figg to her home, and left her just inside her front door. He then took Dudley home. He was discreetly using his wand to make Dudley appear to be walking beside him. But he really hoped he didn't meet anyone on the street, since Dudley was clearly not walking, but floating.

When they were outside his aunt and uncle's home, he cast Ennervate hoping that Dudley would wake up. Dudley stumbled, but soon got back to his feet. He was about to lunge at Harry, but he saw the wand pointed at him and stopped.

"You can't use that on me," Dudley said. He sounded like he was trying to convince himself of that.

"Sure I can. I already did magic," Harry told him. He was also trying to appear more confident than he was.

"You'll be expelled," Dudley said, and harry was surprised he remembered that from three years ago.

"But I can turn you into a pig first," Harry pointed out. Dudley had nothing to say to that. So Harry decided to press his advantage. "You're not going to say anything to your parents about what happened outside. If you tell them, I'll turn all three of you into pigs."

Dudley gaped at him with his mouth open. Harry hoped he agreed. He was not looking forward to Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon screaming about him doing magic.

They went to the house where Aunt Petunia predictably screamed at Harry for staying out too late while ignoring the fact that Dudley had committed the same crime. Her screeching was cut short by an owl announcing he was being expelled and his wand would be snapped. Luckily he was the only one who read the letter.

"What was that for?" Uncle Vernon wanted to know.

"Letter from a friend. I have to leave," Harry told him. He couldn't tell them he was in trouble with the Ministry of Magic. They would probably try to stop him to make sure his wand was snapped.

Harry didn't bother packing his school books or clothes. He only gathered his photo album, Firebolt and invisibility cloak and was out of the house, within a few minutes of receiving the owl from the Ministry.

"Good riddance," Uncle Vernon shouted at his back as he left the house.

Harry turned and said, "Don't worry. I'm never returning to your house again."

Harry was sure he looked strange carrying a broom, walking down the street. He took the first opportunity to duck into an alley. There he mounted his Firebolt and put the invisibility cloak over himself. Then he flew in the direction of London

As he flew, he considered the situation. He had been expelled. And the Ministry was going to snap his wand. He had no place to go and no idea what he was going to do.

Harry was shocked to see that an owl was flying beside him. He pulled the hood of his cloak off and asked, "Do you have something for me?"

The owl gave him a letter from Ron's dad and flew off. It didn't contain anything useful in Harry's opinion. It told him to stay at the Dursleys house, which he had already left. It also told him to not do magic and not surrender his wand. All those things could obviously not be done at the same time. If someone from the Ministry went to the house and found Harry and tried to take his wand, how was he supposed to stop them without doing magic?

Besides, he had just saved himself and his cousin from getting their souls sucked out. But everyone was treating him like he had done some mischief and were trying to punish him. Couldn't they just congratulate him and call it good? Harry laughed to himself. It never worked like that with the Ministry of Magic. They merely existed to cause Harry problems.

As he got closer to London, he had received another owl from the Ministry of Magic, saying that he had to attend a hearing. Harry didn't think that would go well for him either. If the Ministry was involved, something would invariably go wrong.

Harry landed in a quiet alley. He was in London, but he had no idea what he was going to do. In previous years, he would have gone to Ron or Hermione's house or the Leaky Cauldron. But now that he was a criminal in the wizarding world, he needed to stay in muggle London.

He was also carrying a broom in muggle London. He finally decided on hiding it with his invisibility cloak. It was awkward, but it would do for now.

Harry was waiting outside the back entrance of a cheap hotel. He was looking at an employee who was smoking outside the back door. He had never cast the confundus charm before, but it wasn't supposed to be difficult. He had read about it after Snape and Fudge had accused Sirius of casting it on him in third year. As the man stubbed out his cigarette, Harry pointed his wand at him and cast the spell.

It had gone more smoothly than Harry would have expected. The charm had worked perfectly, and now Harry was in a small but clean room. He decided that it would be best if nobody was worried about him yet. So he wrote a short note to Ron and Hermionie saying that he was unhappy about staying at his aunt and uncle's house, but he was doing as he was told.

Harry felt a small measure of satisfaction at lying to his friends, after they had spent the whole summer refusing to tell him anything.

As he fell asleep that night, he considered that the Sorting hat might have been right after all. He would have done well in Slythierin.

The next morning Harry had walked out to a busy street and picked a well dressed bussinessman's pocket. He looked like he wouldn't miss the money and the confundus charm was invaluable to criminals. Fudge had told him something useful after all.

Harry walked back to the hotel, and ordered breakfast. He then flew to the general area of Diagon Alley under the cloak. He knew what he needed, but he wasn't sure how he was going to get it.

He had gone to Diagon Alley and lost no time in walking into Knockturn Alley. There he walked up and down the street, wondering how he would find a shop that provided what he would need.

Harry was looking at a sign for a shop that advertised security services. That sounded like what he wanted. He walked in nervously.

He was welcomed by the middle aged shopkeeper, who said, "Hello young sir, what can I do for you?" He had also given Harry a strange look, probably because of his muggle clothes.

"I would like you to stop any owls from delivering mail to me. Can you do that?," Harry asked him. He was sure someone in Knockturn Alley could do this. After all, if owls could always find people, they would have caught Sirius the week he had escaped from Azkaban.

"I can do that young sir," the shopkeeper said. Harry wondered if shopkeepers in Knockturn Alley spoke differently from those in Diagon Alley. "That will be thirty galleons."

Harry counted out the money from his pouch. The shopkeeper seemed surprised. His clothes made him look poor Harry realized. Well it didn't matter. "I will of course be testing your work," Harry informed him.

"Of course," the man replied with a slight smile. He took the money and started casting spells on Harry. "Did you know that you already have an anti owl spell on you?" he asked after a few spells.

"I didn't know," Harry replied, but it made sense. He had never received any fan mail or unexpected letters. So he guessed Dumbledore had put the spell on him. "Can you find out if there are any other spells on me?" Harry asked.

"Certainly," the shopkeeper replied. He proceeded to cast a lot of spells, all of them silently so Harry had no idea what he was doing. It was making him quite nervous.

"There are tracking spells on you, but they are tied to a sample of your blood or hair," the shopkeeper said.

That was very bad. "All right leave them alone for now. Can you remove the anti owl spells already on me and put up your own?"

He promptly cast more spells at Harry. Harry considered what else this man could do for him. When he had finished, he asked, "Can you check my belongings too?" He gave him his Firebolt which he had shrunk and the invisibility cloak.

They also had tracking spells. Harry had been worried about his clothes, but the man had assured him that they were clean.

"Can you tell me where I can find more information on the tracking spells on me?" Harry asked.

The shopkeeper had given him the names of some books. He thought they might be available at Flourish and Blotts.

"Thank you. And how much do I still owe you?" Harry asked as he prepared to leave.

"Twenty galleons," he replied.

As Harry paid him, he looked deliberately at the shopkeeper and said, "I hope you have not placed any spells on me that I did not ask for."

"Of course not. I would not live very long in this business if I was in the habbit of doing that," he said with a wry smile.

Harry hoped it was true as he went to Flourish and Blotts and found the books he needed. He really wanted to change some galleons into pounds, but he didn't want to go to the bank. The goblins had the uncanny ability to recognize their customers. Besides, he still had a lot of gold. He had withdrawn too much in his third year.

Harry had gotten back to his room and found the photo album. He took it to the back alley and promptly set fire to it. He had to do it before he could change his mind. Hagrid had collected the pictures in it and he felt sure that it had a lot of tracking charms on it, like his broom and cloak. Dumbledore had had access to all of them.

He could go back to Knockturn Alley and get them removed, but the pictures would leave no doubt that he was Harry Potter. And he really didn't want to identify himself right now.

He left the room soon after. He only felt slightly guilty about not paying for it. It was an advantage of not having luggage. He hoped the confounded clerk just assumed he had made a mistake.

Harry was in another cheap hotel room. The clerk who had not been confounded had asked for money upfront when he had taken the room. He would have to steal more money before dinner. It was surprising how little that bothered him.

Harry was eating a burger and fries as he reread the relevant passages on tracking with blood or hair. He had had an idea when the man at the security store had told him that he was being tracked and the person tracking him was probably using his hair or blood. He decided to sleep first and carry out his plan tomorrow.

The next morning, Harry had cut his hair roughly and put the clippings in a bag. He then put on the invisibility cloak and started walking around London and dropping pieces of his hair in random locations. With magic he could put hair fragments in the concrete of the pavement, in the cracks of furniture, in between seat cushions of taxis, even in the river.

By the end of the day his hair was all over London. He hoped that that would confuse whatever Dumbledore, because who else could it be, was doing to track him.

As he fell asleep he wondered when he had become so cynical. In three days, he had given up his friends, the relative safety of his relatives' home, almost all his possessions, and even his place in the world.

But he had good reasons. His friends had abandoned him. He wondered if it was because Voldermort was back and they wanted to put some distance between Voldermort's favourite target and themselves. It was probably unfair of him to think that, but the distance was real. Harry had not imagined it.

He had never felt safe in his relatives home. He had even run away before under similar conditions. He was not particularly fond of his material possessions. He wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice any of them for his safety. And his place in the wizarding world fluctuated like a pendulum from the Boy who defeated Voldermort to Heir of Slytherin. No he would not miss his fame.

Over the course of the last two days, Harry had asked himself why he was so determined to stay hidden. Now that he thought about it, the answer was obvious. In the wizarding world, he would constantly be a target for Voldermort. But if he lived in the muggle world under a different name, he would be just as safe as an ordinary muggle.

And he realized that he was quite content to leave the wizarding world behind. Especially in light of Voldermort's rebirth and his strained friendship with Ron and Hermione. And if he was really being honest with himself, he had never belonged to the wizarding world in the first place. He realized that Malfoy had a point. Muggleborns were not raised to know the culture and traditions of the wizarding world. Harry, who had been raised by muggles, knew very little about the wizarding world. He didn't even know where the Ministry of Magic, where his trial would be held, was. If he changed his mind about going to the hearing, he wouldn't be able to get there without asking for directions in Diagon Alley first. He was very different from a Pureblood. He was a muggle who could do magic.

Harry woke up the next morning in a better mood. He still had no friends, home or possessions. But he felt less upset about that in the light of day. He also felt better because he had decided that he would do something about being alone. He had decided that he would kidnap his godfather.

As he went over the plan at lunch, he wondered how he had escaped Slytherin. He picked up the letter he had written and walked to Diagon Alley. He had chosen to eat at a muggle café near the Leaky Cauldron.

He walked into the post office, and sent his letter to Sirius Black.


	2. Chapter 2: Kidnapper or Kidnappee

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter 2: Kidnapper or kidnappee

The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix was in uproar. Harry Potter had been attacked by Dementors. He had been summoned for a hearing by a hostile Ministry. And worse Harry was still stuck with the muggles he didn't like. Things just couldn't get worse, Sirius thought.

He was trying his best to not lose his temper. Molly Weasley's dozen children and Hermione were also complaining loudly about being asked to clean his parents' run down house. One of the twins had pointed out that most of the things they were cleaning were dangerous. So it made no sense to have children do the cleaning without magic. But Molly was not going to won over with reasonable arguments. In fact his mother and Molly appeared to be having a completion for who could scream louder.

Sirius didn't want to draw Molly's attention by agreeing with the twins. Besides, the adults in the Order of the Phoenix seemed to be of the opinion that the children were useless and had to be occupied with busy work. Thus, cleaning the house without magic.

Sirius didn't agree with this tactic.

"We should be doing something useful. You Know Who is back and we're cleaning this useless house," Ron Weasley said with disgust.

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed looking at him.

It took Sirius a minute to understand that Hermione was telling Ron not to call his house useless. Sirius actually smiled as he said, "I actually agree with Ron."

"You're doing something useful. You're making the headquarters of the Order livable," Molly screamed from across the room.

Sirius resisted the urge to say that all the cleaning was just busy work to keep the children from looking for Harry on their own. It was not worth it.

There was an owl at the window, and Sirius took the opportunity to escape the Weasleys. To his surprise it was addressed to him.

Sirius wasted no time in opening the letter. It was in Harry's handwriting. When he had read it he felt like he was going to be sick. Things had just gotten much worse. Harry had been kidnapped.

* * *

Surprisingly No. 12 Grimmauld Place was completely silent as they waited for the Order members to arrive. Like a funeral, Sirius thought. He still felt sick. The same questions had been swirling in his mind. Where was Harry now? Was he hurt? Who had him? What were they doing to him?

And he had never felt more useless in his life. He knew they should have brought Harry here. He wasn't safe with the muggles. And Harry didn't like them either. Hadn't Harry agreed to move in with him within an hour of meeting him?

But nobody wanted to listen to the insane escaped convict. Dumbledore knew best. Harry must live with his muggle relatives and Sirius must be imprisoned at No. 12 Grimmauld Place. And everyone else had fallen in line with Dumbledore's edict.

Sirius was startled out of his depressing thoughts when Remus put a hand on his shoulder.

"Remus! Harry has been kidnapped!" he exclaimed.

Remus looked as bad as he felt. "Do you know anything else?" he asked.

"I just got this," Sirius said giving him the letter. Remus recognized Harry's handwriting too. He read the letter and returned it. Sirius suspected his friend was thinking the same depressing thoughts as him.

There was a commotion in the hallway and Sirius was about to go and investigate it, when another member of the Order walked in looking over his shoulder.

Even before he had turned around, Sirius had crossed the room and grabbed Mundungus Fletcher's collar. "Where is Harry?" Sirius roared shaking him. "Very convenient that you weren't there when the Dementors attacked him wasn't it? Do you have him? Where is my godson?" It took four wizards to get him off the crook. Remus was not one of them. He was giving Fletcher a death glare of his own.

"If you had anything to do with Harry being kidnapped, I will rip you to shreds," Remus told him in a surprisingly level voice.

Kingsley put an arm on Remus's shoulder to calm him. "We are going to find him Remus," he said in his soothing voice.

Remus turned to Kingsley and everyone took the opportunity to move into the kitchen. Sirius noted that Dung had been sequestered between Hestia Jones and Kingsley. He was on the opposite end of the table from Sirius and Remus.

Just as everyone was getting impatient Dumbledore and Snape arrived, and the meeting started in earnest. Dumbledore read the letter that Sirius had received.

It said:

Dear Sirius,

I have been kidnapped by two Death Eaters. They don't want to tell you their names yet. They want a prisoner exchange. You have to have Bellatrix Lestrange freed from Azkaban. I told them that you couldn't help her because she can't escape like you did. But they won't listen.

They want me to tell you that you have a week to arrange for Bellatrix to go to the Riddle House. If she is not there at the end of the week, nobody will ever see me again.

I can't write much more, but take care of yourself.

Love ,

Harry

"It was written by Harry," Dumbledore said.

"That doesn't mean anything. The kidnappers might have any number of reasons for not wanting to give us a sample of their handwriting," Moody promptly commented.

Nobody had anything to say to that.

"That's not important. We need to find Harry!" Molly Weasley said bringing the discussion back on track.

"Yes. Kingsley, Arthur, please speak to Harry's family and find out when and how he was kidnapped," Dumbledore said. They both nodded.

"Hestia, Tonks, please enquire around Diagon Alley," he continued giving orders.

"Alastor, look into the movements of the high ranking Death Eaters. Severus, try to find out whether this was on Voldermort's orders or an independent operation." As Dumbledore gave his orders, Sirius couldn't help thinking that they weren't doing enough.

"What if we don't find him?" Sirius asked, when all the duties had been delegated. "What are we doing about Bella."

There was an oppressive silence at the table following his words. They were looking at him as if he was actually insane.

"We have to at least think about it!" Sirius said in frustration.

"We can't break her out of Azkaban!" Molly exclaimed. Her disgust for his dear cousin as well as his idea of freeing her was clear.

Sirius turned on her. "Would you say the same if it was one of your children?"

"Harry is as good as my son!" Molly retorted.

"That doesn't seem to be the same as actually being your son," Sirius said in the same tone. Any of them would do the same for their own children. They had no right to judge him.

"How dare you!" she screamed, getting to her feet with her wand drawn.

"Please settle down. This will not help Harry," Dumbledore said in his calm, authoritative tone.

When both Sirius and Molly sat down and put away their wands, Dumbledore retook control of the meeting. "As Harry pointed out in his letter, we can't break Bellatrix out the same way you did. Since we can't break out prisoners form Azkaban, there is no reason to continue this discussion."

Sirius thought it was quite possible to break someone out of Azkaban, especially for Dumbledore who had a phoenix. But he wouldn't do it. Sirius decided he would bring it up at the next meeting if they had nothing useful on Harry's location.

Dumbledore reminded everyone of the importance of their assignments again, and the meeting broke up.

Sirius didn't feel like he could talk to any of them at that time. He went back to his room. His godson had been kidnapped by Death Eaters, and he was completely useless. He paced the room in frustration. He had to think of something.

* * *

A few hours later, they had received news from the Order members who had gone to look for Harry. But this only confused them more. Harry's aunt had told them that he had left her house immediately after the Dementor attack. But she didn't even know about it. It seemed that Harry had not told his family.

But Harry had sent letters to Ron and Hermione the next morning saying he was still at his relatives house. So what had happened? Did Death Eaters modify his aunt's memories? Kingsley was going to look for Harry's uncle and cousin and hopefully get more information.

Enquiries at Diagon Alley were not useful either. The assistants at Madam Malkin's, Quality Quiddich Supplies and Flourish and Blotts remembered seeing Harry in the last few days. But Dumbledore had dismissed the reports because he thought that it was unlikely that Harry was shopping for a broomstick servicing kit in the current situation. Hermione had given one to Harry two years ago, so it was even more unlikely. Harry was also not known to be overly fond of books or new clothes. So it was quite likely that they were only trying to gain publicity by claiming Harry had been to their shops.

Sirius was frustrated with the Order. They didn't even know where Harry had been kidnapped from or when. And Dumbledore was acing weird. He seemed lost in thought more often than not. Sirius was especially frustrated with him. Harry had been sent to live with muggles on his word. It would not have been possible for Harry to disappear without a trace from a wizarding home.

Sirius was still pacing in his room. There had been no good news and the day was almost over. Harry had only six days left.

Sirius was shocked to receive another letter by owl. This one was written in Harry's handwriting too. Sirius opened it with shaking hands. He was sure it would contain bad news.

He skimmed it quickly, then he read it slower to make sure sure he had read it correctly. When he was sure he had understood what it said, he felt hopeful for the first time since Harry had been attacked by Dementors.

The letter said:

Dear Mr. Black,

I hope you received our previous communication. Please make other arrangements for the prisoner exchange, as your presence is required to meet another of our demands.

As Heir to the Black family fortune, you would be invaluable to our cause, and since we hold your godson captive, we demand your fianancial support.

Harry has proven quite troublesome in the few days he has been here. He seems resistant to the Imperious curse, which is unfortunate really. He is also resistant to our agenda, which has made his stay with us quite unpleasant.

We hope you will agree to join us at the music shop beside the Leaky Cauldron at midnight tonight. Please come alone and do not tell anyone in your vigilante group where you are going. Dear Harry will pay for any deviation from our instructions.

I hope you will make the right decision.

Yours truly,

Harry Potter's kidnappers

Sirius carefully folded the letter into a tiny square and hid it in his shoe. He knew he had to do as the kidnappers said. He was proud of Harry for resisting the Imperious curse. But he couldn't help agreeing with the kidnappers that Harry would have suffered less if he had just let them control him. The letter as good as told him that Harry had been tortured to make him write it. Sirius was definitely proud of his godson for trying to protect him. It had been years since anyone had thought him worth protecting. He brushed off the tears from his eyes, before he walked out of the room.

The Order meeting that evening further cemented Sirius's conviction that he couldn't rely on them. It seemed that after Harry and his cousin had been attacked by Dementors, Harry had threatened his cousin with dire consequences if he told his parents anything. So they didn't know anything other than the fact that Harry had left their house that night promising to never return. He had also left his trunk behind, which they had burned the next evening.

"They burned his trunk?" Remus asked in confusion.

"That's what they said," Arthur said tiredly.

Dumbledore turned to Diggle, but Diggle spoke without being prompted. "I remember they were burning something. I was on guard duty that day. But they seemed to be celebrating. I thought it was a bonfire." He shrugged helplessly.

"Did you see Harry Potter with them?" Kingsley asked.

Diggle flushed and said, "No he wasn't with them."

Sirius put his head in his hands. How could Harry ever be safe if he had such idiots for guards.

"So we know that Harry left his family on the day of the Dementor attack, and got kidnapped possibly the same night. Then the kidnappers had Harry write to his friends so that we wouldn't realize he had been kidnapped," Dumbledore said thoughtfully.

Everyone nodded. Harry would have no reason to lie about where he was if he had not been kidnapped.

Then they discussed the Death Eaters. None of them appeared to have kidnapped anyone in the past week. None of them had said anything about the Dementors. None of them had been ordered by Voldermort to do anything about Harry. He was still keen on hearing the prophecy before he dealt with Harry, since his previous attempts to kill Harry had failed so spectacularly.

Sirius felt even more justified about not telling the Order about the letter demanding he go and meet Harry's kidnappers. He felt sure that Dumbledore wouldn't let him go alone, and Harry would pay for their mistakes.

He waited impatiently for the meeting to end. Tonight he was not part of the Order. He realized with a start that he was probably going to die in a few hours. He would do his best not to of course. He had the best chance of rescuing Harry. But there was a very good chance he wouldn't see the sun rise tomorrow.

In spite of that Sirius smiled. He would no longer be a prisoner in the house he hated. He would either rescue Harry or die trying. That gave him a sense of purpose for the first time since Peter had escaped.

"Sirius?" Remus called, shaking his shoulder. He looked up in surprise.

"Dumbledore wants to talk to you. Are you all right?" Remus asked concerned.

"Yes, yes I'll be fine," Sirius replied. He hoped he didn't have a long conversation with Dumbledore. He always tried to read everyone's mind. And he couldn't afford to give up his secrets today.

Dumbledore was waiting for him in the hall. Sirius walked up to him and said, "You wanted to speak to me Albus?" He met Dumbledore's eyes warily.

"Sirius, I know you're worried about Harry. But it will not do for you to be seen outside. We simply can't afford for you to something dangerous," Dumbledore said looking at him over his half moon glasses.

"What?" Sirius asked confused. He felt Dumbledore try to search his mind, but fortunately he was confused and Dumbledore couldn't have gotten anything useful.

"You cannot try to break Bellatrix out of prison. It is unlikely that you will succeed and even if you did, she will not co operate with you," Dumbledore said firmly.

Sirius was getting angry now. Dumbledore was telling him to do nothing while his godson was kidnapped and even had the gall to tell him to be a good boy and not cause problems for those in the order who were actually doing something useful! He felt the old man probe his mind again and his temper flared.

"If you're done rifling through my mind, you can get out of my house," Sirius spat at him.

He turned around and walked up to his room without even looking at the various Order members who he was sure were planning to chew him out.

He slammed his door and started pacing again. He needed to calm down. Luckily he still had two hours before going to find Harry's kidnappers. When someone knocked at his door he ignored it. They were quite persistent, but he paid no attention. When he heard Molly screaming for him to open the door as if he was one of her children, he pointed his wand at it and cast a silencing charm.

An hour and a half later, he took down the charm from his door. There was no one outside it, but the rest of the household was still up and about. He needed to leave without attracting their attention.

He cast a disillusionment charm on himself, and silenced his footsteps for good measure. He then walked outside his room. He paused outside the kitchen. Some of the Weasleys and Remus and Tonks were still there. He would have said goodbye to Remus if he could but it was not worth the risk of alerting Molly.

He silently walked to a side entrance that was almost never used and let himself out. Then he apparated to the Leaky Cauldron. There was no one waiting outside the shop. But he was twenty minutes early. He waited impatiently for Harry's kidnappers.

A/N: I warned you that this story would be cynical. But in my defence, this chapter is from Sirius's POV, and he is feeling helpless and useless, trapped in his parents' depressing house.

How was it? What did you think of the Order meetings? Let me know in a review! The last chapter will be posted on Friday.


	3. Chapter 3: The muggle who can do magic

1\. Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter 3: The muggle who can do magic

Harry walked to the record shop and stopped in front of it exactly at midnight. There was no one on the street. There might still be customers at the Leaky Cauldron, but nobody was outside to see Harry speak to Sirius.

Harry looked around in confusion. He was sure Sirius would come. If he wasn't there, it could only be because someone else had found the letter. Maybe Mrs. Weasley had found it and refused to let Sirius go to his death.

If that had happened, he was expecting an ambush. He was not going to pull off the cloak just yet. As Harry was wondering what had happened, Sirius became visible only four feet from him. He walked right up to him and asked, "Sirius Black?"

"Harry?" Sirius asked. He seemed surprised and confused. But he didn't want to have a conversation here.

"Go to this address," Harry said handing Sirius a piece of paper with an address and directions. "I will follow you."

Sirius looked in his general directions still confused. But he started walking. Harry followed him through the empty streets.

Half an hour later, Harry and Sirius were outside a hotel. It was not expensive, but still better than where Harry had stayed when he was alone.

Harry pulled off the cloak. Sirius gaped at him. Then he looked around, probably for the Death Eaters who had kidnapped Harry.

"Let's go upstairs," Harry said.

"Are you all right?" Sirius asked as he followed him inside.

"Yes I'm fine."

"Are you alone?" Sirius asked doubtfully.

"Yes," Harry replied.

They walked into his room and Sirius looked around as if he was expecting Death Eaters to jump at him. Which was probably reasonable, considering the letters Harry had written.

Harry offered him some junk food, since it was too late to order dinner. But Sirius was not in the mood for food.

"What's going on?" Sirius asked.

"I'll tell you. But you have to listen to the whole story. You can't leave before I finish," Harry told him sitting opposite him. He knew Sirius was going to be angry. But he needed to be honest.

Sirius nodded. "What happened to the Death Eaters who kidnapped you?" he asked.

Harry looked down. It was best to get this out of the way. "I wasn't kidnapped," he said uncomfortably.

Sirius sputtered, "You, you…"

"I wrote the letters. I ran away and wanted you to come with me."

Sirius was still staring, "You lied about being kidnapped?"

"I'm sorry," Harry apologized. He was really sorry. He really didn't want to upset all his friends.

"You had better tell me everything," Sirius said. Harry thought he was trying to control his temper.

"Well, it starts with Dudley and me getting attacked by Dementors. I live with my aunt and uncle because I'm safe there, right. But if Dementors can find me, then I'm not safe. And they're muggles. They can't do anything if I'm attacked. Besides they hate me…"

"They hate you?" Sirius asked.

"Yes. But that's not the point. I got a letter from the Ministry expelling me from Hogwarts and saying that they were going to snap my wand. I wasn't safe there and I like my wand, so I left," Harry said. He looked at Sirius to see if he was angry about that.

"That makes sense. I didn't want you living with the muggles either. But who listens to an insane escaped convict?" he said with a slight smile.

Sirius agreed with him! Harry felt a wave of relief at that. But the real problems were ahead in the story.

"I flew my Firebolt to London. Thanks again for it," Harry smiled at Sirius and Sirius smiled back.

"I also got a letter from Ron's dad telling me to wait for the people from the Ministry, and to not let them snap my wand without doing magic," Harry gave him a wry smile.

Sirius actually laughed aloud. "If you put it like that, it does sound absurd."

"Anyway, I got another letter saying that I'm not yet expelled but they'll decide at some hearing. But I'm pretty sure they'll snap my wand if I go to the hearing, so I've decided I'm not going there."

Sirius looked at him surprised. "But if you don't go to the hearing you won't be able to go back to school."

"I'm not going to be able to go back to school no matter what I do. If I go to the hearing they'll snap my wand too," Harry said trying to keep his voice calm. He was still unhappy about his decision to not return to Hogwarts.

"Harry Dumbledore will not let you get expelled. He's sure…"

But Harry cut him off. "Dumbledore knows you're innocent too. What has he done for you?"

Sirius looked as if he had been slapped. And Harry immediately regretted his outburst.

"I'm sorry Sirius. I'm just saying that I don't think Dumbledore can solve all our problems by waving his wand."

"No you're right. Dumbledore hasn't done anything for me. And he used to be the Chief Warlock. He isn't anymore, so he can't be sure that you won't be expelled," Sirius conceded.

Harry had not realized until then that Dumbledore had the authority to overrule Fudge's kiss on sight order when they had rescued Sirius at the end of his third year. But he had to get back to the story.

"So I went to Diagon Alley to get someone to cast a spell so that no owls find me," Harry said. Sirius looked impressed.

"The person who cast the spell said that there were tracking charms on me, so I had him remove those too," Harry continued.

"Tracking charms?" Sirius asked confused.

"Yes I think Dumbledore put them on me and on the cloak and Firebolt too."

Sirius looked at him confused then he seemed to get angry and said, "He was tracking you. No wonder he's always so confident about everything to do with you!"

"Exactly. Anyway, he isn't tracking me anymore. And I've decided not to go back to the wizarding world." He had dropped the bomb.

Sirius was looking at him as if he had grown another head.

When Sirius had finally regained the ability to speak, he asked, "Are you really Harry?"

Harry laughed. "I know it sounds crazy, but I have good reasons."

Sirius looked like he wanted to say there couldn't be any good enough reasons to do this, but he merely motioned for Harry to continue.

"Voldermort wants to kill me and now he has a body. So I'm sure he's going to try again soon. But I can leave, and disappear in the muggle world. If he can't find me, he can't kill me."

Sirius nodded but still didn't look convinced.

Harry continued, "I have gone to Hogwarts for four years and every year other than the third year, there was at least one house at school who was angry with me and accused me of something or the other. And we had Dementors in my third year."

"What are you trying to say?" Sirius asked.

"I'm saying that the wizarding world doesn't really like me. They have wanted me expelled or punished for things I didn't do. They used to think I saved the world, but they don't really like me, when they're forced to be in the same room as me."

Sirius looked shocked at that. "But that's not true! Most wizards still think you saved us from Voldermort. And you did. You don't know how bad it was during the war. Most wizards still think you're a hero."

"I don't care what they think!" Harry said annoyed. He would make Sirius understand. He took a break from his story to tell him how everyone had thought he was the Heir of Slytherin in second year, and the badges saying Potter Stinks, and how they had accused him of cheating during the Triwizard tournament.

By the end of that Sirius was quite angry on Harry's behalf. But Harry decided they needed to get back to the reason he was leaving the wizarding world.

"Anyway Voldermort is back and will try to kill me and the people in the wizarding world don't like me. And then there is the fact that I'm not really a wizard. I'm a muggle who can do magic," Harry knew he would have to explain that one, so he waited for Sirius to ask.

Sirius looked confused for a minute before asking "What is that supposed to mean?"

"When I was buying school robes before first year, I met Draco Malfoy. He told me that muggle borns are not raised like pure bloods. They don't grow up knowing about the culture and traditions of the wizarding world."

Sirius interrupted him, "You can't listen to Malfoy!" But Harry waved for him to let him explain.

"I'm not saying that that's a good reason to stop muggle borns from learning magic. But what he said was true. I don't know much about the wizarding world. I don't even know where the Ministry is. I don't know what people do when they graduate from Hogwarts. I don't even know what the Dark Arts are. Or why some pure bloods hate muggle borns," Harry hoped Sirius would actually listen to what he was saying instead of telling him he had lots of time to learn this stuff.

Sirius thought for a few minutes with a far away look in his eye. "I understand what you're saying. You feel more comfortable in the muggle world," Sirius finally said.

"I'm saying that I belong to the muggle world. I know how it works. I have always been an outsider in the wizarding world," Harry explained.

"You've really decided to leave?" Sirius asked looking at Harry.

"I have already left," Harry replied. "We're in the muggle world right now."

* * *

Harry woke up early the next morning. He looked at Sirius sleeping in the other bed. He seemed to be having a nightmare. But Harry decided against waking him up. They had slept late and he probably wouldn't be able to go back to sleep.

Harry really hoped he had convinced Sirius that he wanted to leave the Wizarding world. He hoped he would be able to convince Sirius to live in the muggle world with him. After all Sirius was probably very unfamiliar with it.

* * *

As they ate breakfast Harry explained his plan. He wanted to go to the United States of America. Mostly because everyone spoke English there but also because he had heard they had good schools. He planned to use magic to disguise himself and make muggle documents under a fake name.

Sirius was quite enthusiastic about travelling to a new country. He was especially happy about the fact that the American Ministry of Magic wouldn't be trying to put him in prison.

The main reason for moving was that the hair fragments that he had scattered all over London wouldn't keep giving Dumbledore false positives forever. But after he moved, Dumbledore wouldn't be able to find him even though he had Harry's blood. The U.S. was just too far away.

Sirius agreed that it was a good plan. But he had brought up a subject that Harry didn't want to deal with. "You really shouldn't have told us you had been kidnapped by Death Eaters," Sirius pointed out. "You could just ask me to come and meet you. I would have have come even if you told me you wanted to run away."

"You would have. But if you thought I was just running away because I was unhappy, you would have told the others, so they don't worry. That would increase the chances of getting caught."

"But Harry, everyone thinks you're being tortured by Death Eaters right now. Surely that was not necessary!"

"I did get tortured by Death Eaters two months ago even if I'm safe right now," Harry snapped. He was losing patience trying to explain himself.

"That's not what I meant! Your friends are worried about you," Sirius protested.

"Look I understand what you're trying to say. And I'm really sorry for making all of you worry. I agree that there might have been a better way to do this. But I couldn't come up with it and my "friends" have been refusing to say a single meaningful sentence to me in their letters this summer," Harry finished bitterly.

"Is that what you're upset about? That your friends are refusing to tell you about the Order?" Sirius asked.

"I don't really care about the "Order". I just noticed that they were hiding something," Harry said looking away.

"Maybe you wouldn't be in such a hurry to leave if you had some more friends in the wizarding world," Sirius said thoughtfully.

"I don't know but I'm leaving, and I hope you'll come with me. It would be nice to not be alone."

"I already said I'll come with you," Sirius said placatingly.

"And I'm really sorry for making you worry and for asking you to come and save me from Death Eaters," Harry said. He did feel guilty about the letter he had written to Sirius. He had as good as told him that he was being tortured and that he expected Sirius to come and suffer the same treatment.

"It's fine, Harry. I know you would never hurt me," Sirius said pulling Harry into a hug.

* * *

They had taken a muggle airplane to the U.S. the next day. It was surprising how quickly they could get things done with magic. Sirius had no trouble conjuring fake documents to satisfy the muggle authorities.

Being one of the best students at Hogwarts in his time, Sirius taught Harry magic, and hired private tutors to help him with muggle subjects. They moved a few times during their first year because they didn't know if anyone was looking for them. The goblins had agreed to keep Sirius Black's bussiness secret, in exchange for retaining the Black fortune. Sirius had threatened them that he would move all his gold to a muggle bank if anyone else found out where he was living. But nothing happened for a couple of years, and Harry had finally caught up with his muggle education. He had even taken the high school exams.

The war was not going well at all and the Ministry of Magic was expending considerable effort trying to find Harry Potter. Harry occasionally felt guilty for abandoning the wizarding world to its fate, but Sirius never let him wallow in guilt. He would point out that the situation was no different from how it had been during the first war, and Harry was not even an adult, so the Ministry could hardly expect him to save the world. And Sirius was much happier now that he was not an escaped convict.

They had decided to live in Boston where Harry could go to a good muggle university and Sirius to Harry's surprise decided to get a job in a local restaurant. And so they ignored the self inflicted problems of the wizarding world back home, and lived uncharacteristically boring, but also long and productive lives.

* * *

A/N: So that's the end of the story. I know Harry doesn't save the world, but he is being logical in this story, so he knows that is not his job.

But I'm not happy with the ending because it is anticlimactic in comparison to the rest of the story. Does anyone have a better idea? Let me know in a review.

The references to Dumbledore having Harry's hair/blood are about the Deluminator that he leaves Ron in his will. It somehow takes Ron to wherever Harry is by portkey in the seventh book. Since Dumbledore has that device during this story, we have to assume that he could use it to find Harry. I am claiming that it won't work across the Atlantic because of the large distance.

Also Harry being a muggle who can do magic is not originally my idea. I read it in another fanfic a while ago, but I can't find the story again. I might add in the reference here to give the original author credit if I find the story later.

A/N2: I was writing another story where Harry gets convicted for doing underage magic outside school. I started writing it at the same time as this one, so it has a similar tone. Would anyone be interested in reading it?

And finally, thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, favourited and followed this story. This is my first completed story and it has been a great experience because of all of you!


	4. Chapter 4: Epilogue

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Hermione Granger was waiting in line at a coffee shop in Boston when she saw Harry Potter. She was sure she was mistaken. But on taking a closer look she realized that it really was him. She walked up to him in a daze.

"Oh Harry, is it really you?" she asked when she was close enough. He looked up from his book startled.

"Hermione?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"

She hugged him first, then answered the question. "I had to leave. It's terrible." She was crying.

Harry had helped her into a chair at his table and put a pumpkin spice latte in front of her. "You need to calm down Hermione. Everything will be fine," he said trying to reassure her.

"No Harry everything isn't going to be fine. Do you know what's going on back home?" she asked.

"I don't really know much. And, this is my home now."

"After you left, You Know Who broke into the Ministry to hear a Prophecy. It said that you were the only one who could beat him," Hermione started explaining.

But Harry interrupted her. "No it didn't. It only said I would have the power to beat Voldermort. Besides, you have to agree that it doesn't really make sense. "Neither can live while the other survives" is clearly wrong, since both Voldermort and I are currently alive. Unless it is not about me in the first place?"

"You know about it?" she asked.

"It was in the wizarding newspaper," Harry said casually.

"But you, but you're still here!" she said.

"Are you implying that I should be fighting an insane Dark Lord? Before I turn eighteen? Or at any time really," Harry asked pointedly.

She looked chastised. "No of course not," she said. "It's just not like you to leave."

"I didn't know I could leave," Harry said softly. "So what are you doing so far away from home?" he asked, changing the subject.

"It was too dangerous for me to stay. They knew I was muggleborn. And a lot of students from our class joined the Death Eaters. They could have identified me. There is a Muggleborn Registration Commission. They send muggleborns to Azkaban for stealing magic," Hermione said.

"Stealing magic? That's absurd," Harry said. He was finding it hard to believe.

"It really exists. When they started sending summons for hearings, almost all the muggleborns and their families left the country. Even Pureblood families who don't support You Know Who left. A lot of the old families were targeted during the last war. They didn't want to take chances this time."

"So you got one of the notices and left with your family?" Harry asked. That would have been scary.

"No I sent my parents to Australia. I thought I would be safe at Hogwarts. Students who were in danger could stay for the summer. But then I finished my seventh year and nothing had changed. In fact things got worse. So I decided to find my parents and move here," Hermione said.

Harry had no idea things were that bad. The American wizarding newspapers called it a civil war. Ordinary witches and wizards were unhappy about the influx of refugees from Britain. But he had no idea the situation was that bad. "What about Ron?" Harry asked.

"He is still at Hogwarts with his parents and Ginny. It's more of a fortress than a school now. The new muggleborns and their parents don't want to risk the civil war, some of them go abroad and some pretend that they don't have magic. The halfbloods have a muggle or muggleborn parent, by definition, so most of them have already gone abroad with their families. Even a lot of the purebloods have left the country. So there are very few students left at Hogwarts," Hermione explained sadly.

But if that was the case, Harry did some back of the envelope calculations, "That would mean at least fifty percent of the magical population has left the country."

"It's closer to seventy percent," Hermione said.

Harry had a sudden urge to laugh. "What did you find funny?" Hermione asked.

"It's just that, that is higher than the death rate during plague epidemics. Now Voldermort knows what it's like to live through an outbreak of the Black Death," Harry explained.

Hermione did not think it was funny. "Don't say the name. There's a taboo on it," she said.

"So he really has control over the Ministry?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded. "You seem different. You're more confident and more knowledgeable too," Hermione said.

"I have to be if I'm going to get into a good University next year," Harry explained. "And all the credit goes to Sirius. He pretends to be a prankster but he can be a hard taskmaster."

"You want to go to a muggle University?" Hermione asked surprised.

"Yeah. I haven't really decided what I want to do yet. But I didn't really want to do any of the jobs in the magical world. I might have become an Auror if I had stayed in Britain, but Sirius explained the job to me and it's pretty tedious," Harry explained with a shrug. "And Sirius doesn't want me doing something so dangerous."

"Sirius taught you then?" Harry could hear her skepticism.

"No he knows even less than me about the muggle world, and I knew very little when we moved. But he hired tutors, and they got me up to speed. But not before they remarked on how I led a very sheltered life across the pond," Harry laughed. "But Sirius is teaching me magic. There is no underage restriction on magic at home."

Hermione nodded. "Are you going to a muggle school then?" she asked.

"Yes. It's a nice school. The students don't stare at me," Harry joked. "And the girls like my British accent." He finally got Hermione to laugh.

"What do you think of the Pumpkin Spice Latte?" Harry asked indicating her almost empty cup.

"It's different," Hermione replied.

"Admit it, you like it," Harry teased.

"Yes I did actually," she admitted.

As they walked out of the coffee shop, Harry asked Hermione if any of their other friends were in the U.S.

"I thought you didn't want to meet anyone we used to know?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"I didn't, when all of you would have dragged me back to Britain kicking and screaming, to die for the cause. But now that you aren't part of the war, or at least aren't trying to make me fight, I would like to meet my old friends," Harry replied.

"The twins are in New York. They thought it would be a good place to start their joke shop. How they will be able to afford rent there is anyone's guess." Harry gave an enigmatic smile, but didn't enlighten her.

"Luna is looking for the Crumple Horned Snorcack, with her dad, in the Grand Canyon. Kingsley and Lee Jordan are working for the American Ministry. And Neville is in South America, studying exotic plants," Hermione listed.

"So what about the rest of the Weasleys?" Harry asked.

"Bill married Fleur and went to Egypt, Charlie is still in Romania. Percy married a muggleborn. So he had to leave too. He lives in Australia."

Harry was surprised to hear how much the Weasley children had dispersed. But he supposed that made sense considering their chosen careers.

"Is Remus still at Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"No he married Tonks. They're travelling the world. It seems that Sirius left her some money?" Hermione asked. "And reinstated her into the Black family," Harry nodded. He knew Sirius would be happy to hear that.

"Speak of the devil," Harry said, spotting a large black dog in their front yard.

Harry walked in behind Hermione and said to the dog, "Sirius, look who I found."

A/N: Kayqueue suggested I write an epilogue for this story, where Hermione runs into Harry in the U.S. and I loved the idea. So this is the long delayed epilogue.

A reviewer said that Harry isn't really familiar with muggle culture, and I admit I hadn't thought of that. In the fourth and fifth books, whenever Mr. Weasley had to deal with muggles, Harry was considered the "muggle expert". But I agree that is not enough to think that he identifies with being a muggle. Still, I can probably argue that when Harry calls himself a muggle, he only means a person without magic. So "muggle without magic" is supposed to be a paradox. After all, people who don't know about magic don't call themselves muggles, they are just people.

I got the idea of a mass exodus of witches and wizards from Britain if Voldermort takes over, from the story Screw Them by White Angel of Auralon. If you haven't read it yet, do check it out.

And last but not least, a huge thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, followed and favourited my first completed story!


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